The lake is deepest off the right hand bank as you approach it from the cafe where 11 feet of water can be found between the bank and the island. It is also deep between the left hand bank and the island where the bottom is 10 feet deep. The remainder of the pool is about seven feet deep

With no particular hot spots, Eccleston has a two feet wide shelf about a foot deep all the way round the edge which has been planted with lilies, irises and other waterside plants.

It holds some 12,500 fish with carp being the predominant species. These include common and mirror carp to 16lbs with the average size being between 4lbs and 5lbs. The lake is also stocked with roach and rudd between 8oz and 10oz; perch to about 1lb; skimmer bream to 1lb and thousands of small tench about six inches in length.

Sweetcorn, soft hooker pellets, meat and paste are all good baits for the carp on Eccleston, particularly when fished up in the water no more than two feet deep.

Unless you are going after the double figure carp it pays to fish light with nothing stronger than a 3lb line and 16 or 18 hook. Best bait for the roach and rudd tends to be caster whilst sweetcorn, worm, meat and pellet are good for the tench. As is to be expected, worm and maggot are best for the perch with bread, sweetcorn, small pieces of worm, meat, caster and maggot all good for the skimmers.

With 26 well-spaced pegs the pool has banks which drop at 45 degrees to its maximum depth of 12 feet in the centre. The water off the bank nearest the cafe runs between five and seven feet deep whilst up to eight feet of water can be found in the bay on the far left of the water.

Alford has been stocked with 14,500 fish which include common and mirror carp to 16lbs but averaging between 2lbs and 3lbs; roach and skimmers to 1lb; rudd and perch to 8oz and thousands of small tench which once again were stocked at about six inches.

Because Alford is Chester Lakes main match water, most anglers fish it with the pole using quarter inch cubes of luncheon meat or sweetcorn as bait. Once again, unless going for the bigger carp, it pays to fish light with nothing bigger than a Size 16s hook to 3lbs line.

Alford is also the venue for Chester Lakes' Sunday Open Matches, which are bookable through Dave Artell. The cost for fishing these is £5.00 per peg with optional pools available. The draw is taken at 9.00am in the office next to the pool and fishing is from 10.00am until 3.00pm.

Once again there are no particular hot spots on Alford and the secret tends to be to attract the fish into your swim with samples of hook bait and then keep them there by feeding little and often.

The furthest of the three main waters from the cafe, Pulford Lake is again about an acre in size but unlike the other two tends to be an out and out waggler water with a method or cage feeder useful for getting to the deep 12 foot water along the centre of the lake or for fishing the bottom which tends to average between nine and 10 feet wherever you fish.

The fish in Pulford are again the same species and general stamp as in the other two main waters, although the carp are growing faster and bigger than in the other two because of the large amount of oxygenating weed which is present.

One of the advantages of Pulford is that the lake is currently heavily overstocked because it is being used as a holding water for the new pools which are being created. These surplus fish will be thinned out late in 2011 to reduce the competition for food.

Most popular baits on Pulford tend to be sweetcorn and corn skins - a piece of sweetcorn with the soft insides squeezed out; paste baits and soft hooker pellets. All baits are best fished fairly shallow with regular feeds of feeder pellets being thrown in over the float to bring the fish up in the water.

Although Pulford is a large and open water which some anglers may find daunting,particularly those who prefer smaller, more intimate venues, it is easy to fish with accessible pegs and plenty of bankside space to spread out.

However, anglers need to find and fish the swims where there are breaks in the oxygenating weed and to tempt the fish by feeding the swim with small but regular offerings of hook bait. It is surprising how a steady stream of free offerings can get the fish to feed competitively.

With 10 pegs, it is deepest in the bay immediately to the left of the entrance where, surprisingly, there is just over 20 feet of water. However, halfway along this left hand bank the bottom shallows rapidly to six feet and then to five feet as it rounds the corner to the right hand side of the island.

Wood Pool is stocked predominantly with roach to 1lb, bream to 2lbs, skimmers and some common, mirror and ghost carp well into double figures with the average fish being between 3lbs and 4lbs.

Being fairly shallow, Wood Pool is predominantly and pole and waggler water with most anglers opting to fish the margins where there is a two foot wide shelf between a foot to 18 inches deep before the banks drop straight to a flat and even bottom. Another favourite is to fish out to the rushes from the far end of the island.

Most commonly used baits for fishing Wood Pool include sweetcorn, soft hooker pellets, meats - especially Celebrity luncheon meat - and maggots, although maggots have the unwelcome habit of attracting the smaller fish. The most popular baits with those after the carp tend to be sweetcorn and luncheon meat.

As the fish tend to be up in the water during warm weather and on the bottom when it is cold it pays to vary your depth until you find the fish.

Another new pleasure-cum-match lake for 2012 A further addition to the angling on offer at Chester Lakes for 2012 is expected to be a new pleasure-cum-match lake with three islands along its spine which is being cleared and filled in 2011. To be found just past Wood Pool, this new water will be stocked with common, mirror and ghost carp around 2lbs and chub and barbel between 8oz and 1lb. It is expected to be an ideal venue for pole and waggler anglers who like a bit more seclusion and shelter than that presently offered by the three main waters on the complex.

Visit Chester Lakes on the Net Chester Lakes is developing its own website with information and photographs on the venue including details of latest catches, information about the camping and caravan site and details of prices and forthcoming matches. The site can be found at www.chesterlakes.co.uk.

How to get there... When heading for Chester on the A55, come off the A55 at the sign for Wrexham onto the A483. At the roundabout at the start of the A483 go all the way around and back towards Chester. Take the first left signed Dodleston/Kinnerton and go through Rough Hill, over a roundabout and level crossing and then turn left onto Church Road. Take the first entrance on left in the trees into the fishery. Please note that Chester Lakes Fishery is slightly to the south west of the tip of the arrow shown on the Streetmap image. Go back to Fisheries homepage